Occupational_Health_and_Safety

Occupational Health and Safety Legal Position and Requirements Generally in developing countries and specifically in South Africa the state of occupational health and safety is not satisfactory. In South Africa’s particular case, the health and safety of workers is legislated upon in the form of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (hereafter referred to as the Health Act) as amended and the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996 (hereafter referred to as the Mines Act). The problem regarding the health and safety of employees does not necessarily stem from the Acts themselves but rather through the mechanisms available to implement what the acts seek to achieve and that is to provide and regulate health and safety for all workers at the workplace (Rees & Davies,p.172). These issues will be dealt with in due course. For the purposes of this subsection an outline of the basic legal requirements for health and safety will be provided. The Health Act places a duty on the employer as well as the employee with regard to the employees’ health and safety. The employer's extend to setting up health and safety committees from among his employees. Also which is the obvious the Act stipulates that the working environment and the workplace is one that is safe and in the event work being of an inherently dangerous nature the correct precautions must be taken. Also health and safety inspectors must not be hindered in the course of their inspections. In addition to all this the staff should be given the requisite training to prevent injury or subsequent health problems. The primary duty that rests on employees is to make sure that any irregularities are reported as soon as possible so that action can be taken. The basic purpose of the Health Act and indeed the Mines Act is to firstly to make it a matter of law and not merely social responsibility to ensure the health and safety of employees. Also they both seek to provide mechanisms to achieve the primary purpose, the health and safety of workers in the workplace. The problem that is currently being addressed in terms of the legislation and other regulations is the lack of clarity and coherence in the state's occupational health policy (Rees & Davies,p.172). The reasons for this stem from the fact that there is no uniform body for regulation of health and safety. This is because mineworker safety is dealt with by the Department of Minerals end Energy and others are dealt with by the Department of Labour. Also there is a conflict of interest where the Department of Minerals end Energy seeks to maximize output but this type of policy could compromise worker safety. These issues give rise to challenges that will now be dealt with (Rees &Davies,p.175). Reference list Rees, David and Davies , Tony ‘Occupational Health’ ch.19 p.171-p.177; ftp://ftp.hst.org.za/pubs/sahr/1997/chap19.pdf, Retrieved 26 August 2008. Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1993 Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996